BY KEITH EVANS
Season's greetings. I bring to you a very odd, yet interesting view of the history of Christmas. Most of you may be very familiar with the many different cultural origins of Christmas, and it's patron of giving, Saint Nicholas aka Santa Claus aka Kris Kringle. What a good number of you may not know is the history of his "assistant", Black Peter. I first learned of Black Peter's existence from, ironically enough, the Conan O'Brien show, then later from the biography of Santa Claus while watching the Biography channel.
To sort of quickly summarize the Black Peter myth, traditionally St. Nicholas would hand out presents to good children, while it fell to Black Peter to dole out coal (and sometimes knocks on the head) to children who misbehaved. Black Peter was, physically, the opposite of Santa. Tall and famished, with a black beard, and dark skin (his racial ethnicity has been linked to the spanish moors, which basically meant he was black). Peter was known in the 15th century as Zwarte Piet (Black Peter in Dutch) and was associated with pirates, a common threat to naughty Dutch children. Legend has it, he would take them to a pirate's hide out and beat them. He was often represented holding a large stick for this purpose. The large bag that he held was rumored to be used for stuffing children in for the trip back to Spain. At the time "Black Peter" was a euphemism for the devil, and it was thought that St. Nicholas, being a representative of God, had beaten the devil and made him his servant. Thus it fell to Black Peter to hand out the punishments, while St. Nicholas dealt with the more pleasant sides of Christmas.
Now, of course this is in direct connection to the many negative connotations of black people back in the day, and is probably the reason Black Peter isn't very prominent in today's Christmas stigma. I'm sure that the whole idea of Mr. Claus owning a "slave" fell right into the many files of racism that were frowned upon, much like black face, minstrel shows, and the like. Now, as in any fabled character, different cultures have adopted and tweeked the physicalities and back stories of Black Peter. In certain central European cultures such as Austria and Germany. Black Peter is more monstrous. A more literally black beast with horns, long hair, and a red lashing tongue. According to the German folklore, Black Peter isn't so much an assistant or slave to Kris Kringle as he is just some creature that Santa sent naughty children to, to be beaten.
Still, in other countries, particularly during more racially fueled eras, Pete is more so symbolism of the acceptance of racism. Donned in shackles and tattered clothing, Peter was thought to be a slave who was more than willing to be Claus' servant. His job description included removing hay and carrots from the shoes left by children, replacing them with candy and gifts. If said children were on the "naughty" list, he would instead fill their shoes with coal, basically, and presumably, doing all the insignificant work that would ultimately keep Santa lazy, obese, and happy. I don't know about you, but as a fellow blackie, if I had been around during that time, and slavery was sort of my way of life, I would imagine that there couldn't be a better slave master than Santa Claus, assuming there was no cotton in the North Pole.
More recently, Black Peter is depicted as a black dude in what looks to be some sort of gay Renaissance page outfit, with short poofy pants, stocking, feathered hat, and gold earrings, which somehow reminds me of a homoerotic Morgan Freeman. Present day festivities in the Netherlands includes Black Peter in their "Mall Santa" type revelling. There is slight controversy surrounding this because of the fact that the Dutch dress in black face, afro wigs, gold jewellery and bright red lipstick. While this is taboo in America, in places like Holland and Switzerland, it's no major issue, unless the few Americans who dwell in those parts decide to complain. Attempts to make him more politically correct suggest that Black Pete’s black face is actually the result of climbing down chimneys to deliver presents. I personally say, "When in Rome", because I'm sure the Dutch would be just as offended in our country upon visitng a grocery store and finding a aisle full of horrific Swiss Miss products, which I have now labeled Dutch-ploitation.
After all this Black Peter research, I've came up with a few unfounded ideas. First off, totally my Halloween costume next October, stay tuned. Second, what was the inevitable resolution between Santa and Peter. Obviously, Santa Claus began to make such an impact worldwide that he realized just one negro could not handle the workload. Black Peter is eventually replaced by what seems to be an endless supply of midgets with deformed ears. How did Black Pete and St. Nick part ways? Was it amicable? Or did their split orginate from some sort of disagreement. Imagine a situation in which there is only one piece of fried chicken left between an always hungry fat ass and a very agile black dude. Or is it the age old tale of Saint Nicholas walking in on Black Peter and Mrs. Claus? Third, after this split, was it Black Peter who invented Kwanzaa? This is a script waiting to happen Spike Lee. I say Lee because if Tyler Perry were to have any part in this, it would be as much as a minstrel fiasco as if Mel Gibson made the film, unfortunately with less credibility.
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